3 most outrageous politicians of the year

Feet to the Fire

It's hard to pick this year's most outrageous Florida politicians. The competition is stiff. But several stand out.

U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson. What exactly is wrong with this man? Before he assumed office last January, representing much of Orange and Lake counties, he had earned a reputation as an arrogant bully.

But a lot of candidates act like that in a campaign, only to be brought back to earth when they reach the hallowed halls of the U.S. Capitol. Sorry, but not in this case. Grayson even seemed to have upped the ante.

By now everyone should be familiar with his antics surrounding the health care bill, in which he said the Republicans' plan is for sick people to "die quickly." That is, anyone watching cable TV talk shows. Grayson lunged from one to another, with the hosts all too happy to have a congressman who would shoot from the hip at the slightest provocation.

He became too much even for them, though, when he called a female lobbyist turned Federal Reserve official a "K Street whore."

But Grayson's latest foray into the public eye may be the worst. He is trying to get jail time for a Republican Lake County activist who has created a Web site called mycon gressmanisnuts.com. It's parodying Grayson's Web site called congressmanwithguts.

Grayson has asked the U.S. attorney general to investigate the woman who started it, and accuses her of lying because she doesn't live in his district. This sounds like a man with too much time on his hands.

With his Harvard law degree, doesn't he know that parody is famously protected by the First Amendment? Can't wait to see what he cooks up next year.

Former state House Speaker Ray Sansom. Former is the operative word here. It's hard to remember any Florida politician who collapsed so quickly.

Barely a day after Sansom was sworn in as House speaker about a year ago, the story broke that he had accepted a $110,000 part-time job with a northwest Florida community college. Turns out that Sansom got the job after he managed to get $25 million for the college in a year it was slated to get $1 million. Hmmm. Plus, another $6 million was allocated to the college through construction funds.

Not only was Sansom out as House speaker, he was indicted and became the subject of an ethics complaint. Oh, and he was forced to quit the college job. What a guy!

But here's what makes this even worse: By committing all these transgressions right before becoming House speaker, he put the House in disarray. Suddenly, Speaker Pro Tem Larry Cretul and speaker-designate Dean Cannon had to step into his role with no time to plan their leadership. And this at a time when the Legislature was facing its worst budget situation in decades.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp. What's interesting about Kottkamp is that he's in such denial about his foibles.

Kottkamp spent $700,000 in tax dollars for himself and his security to travel around the state, which included frequent trips from Tallahassee to his hometown in Fort Myers.

This all might not be so bad if Kottkamp had done anything substantive as lieutenant governor -- anything at all. There actually are lieutenant governors who earned their keep. Toni Jennings did as Jeb Bush's lieutenant, including helping him oversee emergency operations during the hurricanes of 2004. Frank Brogan was an able lieutenant for Bush as well, helping him on the education front.

At least we've seen the last of Kottkamp once Crist's exits next fall to be, or not to be, a U.S. Senator. Well, maybe not. Instead of seeing his travels as a reason to politely excuse himself from politics forever, Kottkamp is running for attorney general.

But give Kottkamp credit for a sense of humor. He declared his run for attorney general at an event honoring flight.